One thing I like that is not really seen in the muchness of fantasy Lit. is how almost every single character is fully developed. I mean yeah I don't really like trudging through Bran and Sansa chapters, but at least they're not as shallow as they could be if written by a "lesser" writer.

They started out with him not doing anything but having the same dream over and over while in bed, and progressed to him doing nothing but having the same dream over and over while trudging through a relatively static forested landscape.

It's weird. Since Bran was the first "real" chapter in AGOT, at first I kinda figured he would be the main star of the series, sort of a Harry Potter-like child protagonist. That's just another way that GRRM screws with our preconceptions of how these kind of series should proceed.

Well, the Bran chapters tend to lack the political intrigue that anchors most of the series' drama. They're just about a kid sitting in bed behind the lines, briefly involved in some action under occupation, and then on a magical/religious journey. There's less action or plot progression than average. The focus is on his dreams and his spirit-quest thing, but it takes five books for them to become anything more than just a long-recurring set of dreams. I don't mind them, because they're a great window into the history and mythology of the setting and they're not nearly frequent enough to bog down the pace of the books, but I can see them dragging if you're impatient and eager to get back to Tyrion and Daenerys and Jon and Davos. At least until ADWD, at which point they're finally paying off and totally fascinating (more fascinating than Tyrion's travelogue o' ennui, even).

in the first three books i found his chapters a welcome respite from the sometimes hectic pace, and they felt like a long slow build to something huge. i also really like and sympathize with his character. in the fifth book i actually thought his chapters became really interesting and felt that long slow build starting to pay off.

Yeah, let me crawl out from between the floorboards as well. Bran chapters rock, if simply because so much lore gets revealed in them. Knight of the Laughing Tree, Weirwood sacrifices, Bloodraven, the Old Gods, a bunch of the relevant info on Lyanna (IIRC),...

Bran was simply a plot device in the first book. With his injury and the subsequent assassination attempt, he really set the plot in motion. However, once that happened, he really became useless. I think the story would have been better served if Bran had died.

Sansa's chapters become more rewarding as time goes on. Bran's never do. They are the bane of all existence.

Your Bran must be my Martells. I know they're supposed to be adding another level of intrigue and throwing in another twist in the Return of the Targaryens storyline, but I was having trouble getting much into them in the last two books. Maybe because I'd already had three books getting to know all of the other characters, Arianne and co. have some catching up to do. Somehow, I didn't have that same problem with the Iron Islanders, maybe because at this point Vic's practically on Meereen's doorstep and their various stories are interwoven.

Bran's chapters don't bother me too much as they certainly have a long goal that you're vaguely aware of. They just take a long time to develop and progress is slow, sometimes seeming a bit redundant, but it gets there in bits and pieces. Arya's Braavos chapters have reminded me of that as well. Similar to one another, seemingly little movement from chapter to chapter, but certainly going somewhere. They don't have the intrigue and middle of the action feel of chapters like Jon, Davos, Cersei, or even Theon, so they can be a little detached and stretched out and they have frustrated me from time to time. Still looking forward to where they're going, though.